An amazing weekend+3 Weeks to D Day

I still never know what to name my posts, I'll try to get more creative soon, I promise!

I had a great weekend and a great Mother's Day.  It was low key, and I couldn't have asked for a better day.  I went out for a 4-mile run and came back to:

These amazing little crafts made for me by Devin (with a little help from papa).  I was proud of her for writing all by herself and remembering that tulips are my favorite! :)

Shawn made omelettes for breakfast (ok, it was my 2nd breakfast, I had oatmeal when I first got up :) ) and then we went for a hike.  Devin walked almost the entire way up and I was really impressed with her.  Its 1.4 miles of lots of rocky uphills.  She's such a little champ.  :)  Cori had a blast riding in the pack.  There is a road that is closed this time of year and we walked back down that way so it would be easier for the girls and so that Cori could get out and walk some too.



3 weeks from yesterday is race day.  Last week was a really hard/rewarding training week for me.  I ran 32 miles overall and it was the highest week of mileage for me EVER.  I'm going to touch on my 3 key runs: speed workout, tempo workout, and long run.

Tuesday was my track workout.  It was my first track workout since high school (and my 10 year reunion is coming up, so ya its been a while).  I was excited for it.  And then my day got all thrown off.  Shawn wasn't going to be home early with the girls like I had a initially thought.  I was frustrated.  And then I remembered what I'd said to you all before about life getting in the way, and decided this was just another one of those times.  I had to deal with it, and I still had to get my run done.  I fed the kids a quick dinner, packed tons of books, toys, and snacks, and headed to the track.  The girls did great and had a blast, and I got my run done.  They did laps around the track and sat on their blanket and read books.  I had run a 2 mile warm-up with them in the jogger at home before I'd driven to the track.  Then I ran another mile when I got there before beginning my workout, which was 5x600 @ around a 2:10 pace.  It was really hard.  I wanted to stop after 4.  I even had the perfect excuse with the girls waiting on me.   I didn't quit though, what good would that have done?  If you want to reach your goals, you have got to push hard.  Its not always going to feel good, but after you are done you'll be proud and you'll be glad you pushed.  I was.  I finished each 600 between 2:09 and 2:13.  A note to all you moms out there, you CAN fit in you workouts.  Get creative.  Bring it outside, do push-ups while you kids eat lunch, do squats while you push your kids on the swings, there is not always going to be a 30 minute for you to work out, but even short spurts throughout the day can get the job done!

My tempo run this week was 8 miles w/ a 2 mile warm-up, 4 miles @ 7:00min/mile pace and a 2 mile cool down.  This was another hard run, but if I'm going to run 13.1miles at or under a 7:10/mile pace, I'd better be able to do 4 at that pace huh?  I know I'm not ready for it yet, but I have 3 more weeks to bust my butt, and they I WILL be ready.

My long run was 10 miles.  I run a lot of the same routes, so I decided to seek out a different route for my 10 miles.  Shawn suggested I run Mountain Road.  I'd never even driven down it, but I'd heard how hilly it was and it scared me.  I decided just to do it, the hills will only make me stronger.  I was cursing him during parts when I thought all I was going to do for 10 miles was run uphill, but thankfully it didn't dissapoint with some pretty good downhill slopes too.  And it was a really pretty run.  Very scenic, and just gorgeous when the sun is just coming up.  I'm glad I ran it, and I'll definately head out on that route again soon.  I'm excited that I already have a 10-miler under my belt and I'm 3 weeks out from the race.  With the last 2 races the only long runs I completed were two 8 milers and one 10 miler.  So I'm completing a lot more mileage this time around, and QUALITY mileage at that.  I have a feeling it is going to work out great. :)

Do you tend to run the same routes over and over or do you change it up a lot?
I run a lot of the same routes, but I'm trying to start switching things up a bit!

Have a great week! :)